


While the World Does Change

by KTKuma



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Angst, Gen, In the Beginning, Just... sadness, M/M, Platonic Relationship, Robot AU, Robot Bands, Robot Feels, Robot Ryan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6548782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KTKuma/pseuds/KTKuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A child stares up to Ryan from the audience.  Is his bright smile for him?  Does he really care about this old robot guitar player?  Why does he laugh for him?  Care for him?  Why does he make Ryan so happy?  Happy... for probably the first time in his life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	While the World Does Change

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this idea for a fic for... two years maybe? And I started writing it Summer of last year? Maybe? It's based on Turn Back the Clock by Steam Powered Giraffe, so if you wanna go give that a listen and then come back here, then you'll be properly wrecked, but you'll also sort of get at what's going to happen. At least to begin with. There's more! More shit that will probably wreck you. Sorry.
> 
> EDIT: I changed the title slightly so that it was actually the lyrics from the song, because I messed up and can't remember my own fic titles... :/

The crowds were gathering outside, Ryan could hear them through the thick curtain. He tried not let it get to him, he didn't have anything to be nervous about. It was the same thing day after day, show after show.

He strummed on his guitar and cursed the ever out of tune D string. He could try and adjust it himself, but he would need to wait until after the show closed before it could really be fixed. So he lived with it, his precise ear always picking up the dissonance in the chords.

Ryan decided to leave the guitar alone for now and focus on his joints. He had been feeling tight all day, and of course standing for several hours didn't make anything better. He bent his knees and twisted his wrists. He stood on his toes and shook out his arms. He twisted his hips and shrugged his shoulders. He wondered what time it was, how long before it was the next band's turn, and he had the ability to maybe sit down.

As the other performers came onto the stage, Ryan took up his guitar and gently strummed the beginning to a song. As the announcer came on behind the performers, Ryan caught his arm. "How much longer are we playing, Jon?"

"This is your last set for today. You are going to be needed out there, though." His smile was understanding.

Ryan nodded and let the announcer continue on to the break in the curtain. He watched the man take a deep breath and settle in to large smile before he burst through the curtain to face the audience on the other side.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Lads and Lasses! I welcome you to the musical entertainment of our show! There is no better way to experience the Wild West than by hearing the songs and tales actually told there! And there is no better story teller than our fantastic robot band! I present to you: The Wild Hunters!"

As the curtain opened, the band began to play.

-

The thunderous applause of the crowd was deadened as the curtain fell, and the band was engulfed in darkness.  With no audience to impress, Ryan let his arms and smile fall, relieved that he no longer had to work.

“How’s it going, buddy?” Geoff clapped him on the back, shocking the man forward a step.

“Tired.  I can’t wait to rest.”

Jon came up in front of him and smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, Ryan, but… you have to go do a meet and greet in a couple minutes.” He held out his hand for Ryan’s instrument.

 Ryan sighed and handed it to him.  He let himself be led away backstage by Geoff and Jack and tried to put on another smile.  Without even looking at himself, he tell that it was blatantly fake.

“You alright, Ryan?” Jack was _trying_ to comfort him.  It just didn’t… help.

“I’ll be alright.”

They pushed through the door that separated the backstage area from the rest of the show, and were immediately greeted with dozens of excited faces.  There was a brief pause of silence before the smaller kids began to shout with joy.

It was terrifying.

Jon pushed to the front and smiled, greeting the crowd with his signature dry wit.  He was trying to make things as easy as possible for the robots.  He knew that they could get easily overwhelmed – especially Ryan, so he pushed them back a bit and began to talk them down from their fervor.

With the children moderately calm, Jon let the robot band come forward and begin the meet and greet.  Most of the kids went for Jack and Geoff.  Admittedly, they were the more personable bots.  They had been around for longer and were in more of the monologues, and so the kids really responded to them.  Ryan was slightly newer and mostly worked on getting their songs to sound good, though he did interact with the on stage.

He just wasn’t the biggest fan of interacting with… fans.  And because of that, Ryan chose to hang back a bit.  If the kids wanted to see him, then they’d come to see him.  He was fine with not being the center of attention.

Ryan crossed his arms, cursing the creak in his elbow, and watched as children swarmed the other two performers.  They poked and pulled on them, asking them questions about being part of the band, part of a traveling Wild West Show, and, most of all, they asked about being a robot.

That was all the kids cared about, and who could blame them?  It was the most interesting thing a kid could see – anyone could see, really.

Ryan let his gaze wander, hoping for the moment he could be away from all of this.  There was a sharp tug on his sleeve and he looked down to see a small child at his elbow.  When Ryan locked eyes with the child’s, the young boy blushed and hugged a stuffed toy close to his chest.  Ryan forced a smile, a little more genuine than he had slapped on earlier.  It was easier to smile in front of someone.

“How are you?” Ryan prompted the boy.  Many children were shy at first.

“I’m good.”  The boy whispered.

“What’s your name?”

The boy became a bright red color, “Gavin.  W-what’s yours?”

“I’m Ryan.  Did you like the show?”

Gavin bounced a little as he looked back up to Ryan, “I loved it!  Whenever you guys come, I always see you!  I love coming here!”  The little toy bounced in his arms.  Ryan recognized it as one of the toys that could be one at the little games around the show grounds.

“Did you win that?” Ryan indicated to the little cow.

Gavin’s smile widened and held out the stuffed cow for Ryan to see, “Yeah!  All by myself!”

“Does he have a name?”  Ryan could see Jon beaming at him in his periphery.  He was excited to see Ryan actually interacting with one of the kids.

“Yeah!  Edgar!  Isn’t he great?”

“He’s wonderful, Gavin.”  Gavin giggled and hugged the cow close to his chest again, rocking gently as he did so.  “Have you met the other band members?”

“No… This is the first time I’m meeting anyone…”

“If you come to see us so much, why haven’t you come to see us before?”

Gavin shrunk a little, “I was scared.”

Ryan’s face fell and he crouched down to get on Gavin’s level, “Let me tell you a secret, Gavin.”  Gavin looked up to him a little, “I get scared before every show.  I was scared to come meet everyone.”

“You get scared?”

“All the time.”

Gavin beamed up at Ryan, and he knew the young boy was worth all of the troubles he had interacting with humans.

“Alright, everyone, I know you all want to spend time with your favorite members, but unfortunately they need to go in back and gets their joints all oiled up.  They’d be happy to see you when y’all come back to see them again!  They’re here every day, performing just for you!”

Gavin looked distraught that his time with Ryan was up.  Ryan smiled comfortingly, “Come and see me next time, ok?”  Gavin nodded, his eyes maybe getting a little watery.  “Do you want a hug?”  Ryan opened his arms a little and the small boy nearly threw himself into them.  Ryan wrapped his arms around his slim frame for his first hug in… a long time.  He released the boy to his parents after a moment, waving goodbye as they went to leave.

“Bye, Ryan!”  Gavin waved as hard as he could as Ryan stood up.  He giggled once more before grabbing his mother’s hand and they turned to leave.

Ryan waved back until he couldn’t pick them out of the crowd anymore.  As he lowered his hand, Jon placed a hand on his shoulder.  “It was nice to see you with the kids.”

“It was just one kid, Jon.  And he approached me.” Ryan frowned.

“Yeah, but you actually talked to him.  My little Ryan is growing up.”  Jon mimed wiping a tear from his eyes.

“Ha ha.  It was just… You know: he approached me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think you’ve every willingly talked to… anyone.”

“Whatever.  I need to go get my joints oiled.  And my guitar tuned.”  Ryan pushed away from Jon to catch up with Geoff and Jack.

-

Every show after that day, Ryan made a point to look out into the crowd to look for that little golden haired boy with the stuffed cow.  Every time he did, he face would light up and he actually looked forward to the meet and greets.  The boy, Gavin, really did come a lot.  It almost hurt Ryan to have to tell Gavin that the band was going away for a few months.

“But, why?”  The boy looked like he was about to cry.

“You know that we go and visit other cities.  We aren’t gone for long, just do a few shows around the country, and then we’re back here in a couple months.”

Gavin stamped his foot and stared at the ground.  “But that was before I met you.  Why do you have to go?”

Ryan placed a hand on Gavin’s shoulder, trying to be comforting, “I don’t want to go either, Gavin, but I have to.  I’ll miss you every day that I’m gone.”

Gavin hugged Ryan close, “I’ll miss you too, Ryan.”  Gavin stepped back from the hug after a second, scrubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands.  He picked up the stuffed cow that he had dropped to the ground and held it out to Ryan.  “Here.”  He thrust it into Ryan’s hands.

“Gavin, why?  You love Edgar.”

Gavin just pushed it into Ryan’s hands even harder, “I want to make sure that you don’t forget me.  I want you to give him back when you come home and to tell me about all the adventures you two went on.”

If Ryan had the capacity to cry, he might’ve been tearing up.  Gavin was offering up his precious Edgar just to make sure that Ryan thought of him while he was gone.  He clutched the cow close to his chest and nodded.  “I’ll make sure to take good care of him, Gavin.”

“You better!  I’m gonna see you the first show after you come back!”  Gavin hugged Ryan one last time before running back to his mother and taking her hand.

Ryan stayed down on the ground, clutching Edgar close to his chest.  His motors whirred and buzzed a little as he watched the boy disappear into the crowds.  He didn’t even think to get up until Jon wandered over to tell him he was free to go.  Ryan quickly tucked Edgar into his pocket before standing up.  He didn’t know why, but he wanted to keep the toy just to himself, at least for now.

That night, when he powered down, he pulled Edgar out and held him in his arms until he would awake in the morning.  It was the last thing he saw at night, and the first thing he saw in the morning. 

He carried the cow with him everywhere.  He took it on the tour as Gavin had requested, and he didn’t think that there was a moment that he didn’t think of the boy.  When he was alone, Ryan would often pull the toy out from where he had stashed him and just look at it.  He would even talk to it sometimes, when he was feeling lonely.  A lonely robot in a crowd of circus folk, talking to a stuffed cow – what a sight he was.

-

The day that they band returned from their tour, Ryan was antsy.  He was going to see Gavin today.  The boy had promised.  As the band made their way onstage, Ryan gently pulled Edgar out of his pocket and hugged him close.  The little toy had given him the strength to get through the time away.  Even if everyone else teased him about it, he still loved the toy very much.

“Ryan, stop ogling the cow, we gotta perform.”

Ryan smiled and tucked his companion back into his pocket and picked up his guitar, “Shut up, Geoff.  You’re just jealous.”

“It’s a fucking kid’s toy, why would I be jealous?”

Jon shot an angry look at Geoff for his language as he stepped to right behind the curtain.

Ryan feels content going into a show for the first time he can remember.  He’s going to see Gavin today.  He doesn’t even consider the possibility that he isn’t going to be there.  He would be there.

The moment the curtain parted and the music began to swell, Ryan’s eyes were combing the audience.  When his eyes settled on Gavin, he nearly didn’t recognize him.  In the months that he’d been gone, he’d grown a lot.  He now stood a bit taller than he remembered.

Ryan’s not sure if he’s ever played a show with such enthusiasm and emotion.  He caught the eyes of Geoff and Jack and smiled.  Their energies fed off each other leading to an amazing performance that left Ryan’s gears and fans whirring with excitement when the curtain closed again.

“You did great, Ryan.” Jack clapped Ryan on the back before handing his instrument off to one of the stage hands.  Ryan stood still for a moment, letting his insides slow as he thought on the performance.  He did do great.  This was the first performance he’s ever done without feeling any sort of… anxiety when the curtain opened.  And he was actually excited to get down to the meet and greet.

So excited, he was the first one there.  Even before Jon.  He was confronted by a swarm of children and their parents.  Their shining faces and wide eyes sent his motors whirring and he promptly turned back to go find Jon.

He needed Jon, he was the only one really good with wrangling the children.  He found him almost right away, and he looked down at his feet as the man began to chuckle.  “Get a little excited, Ryan?”

“Yeah…”

“No problem, I’m sure your little friend will be excited to see you.” Ryan followed behind Jon with quiet dismay. 

With Jon there to help, Ryan was able to quickly locate Gavin and pull him over to the side.  He crouched down to the boy’s level, not bothering to think about the way his joints creaked and protested.  He pulled the stuffed cow out of his pocket and held it out, “I think I was to return this when I saw you again?”

Gavin smiled and took the toy back.  He hugged it to his chest and looked at Ryan silently before just jumping forward and hugging the robot close.  “I missed you, Ryan.” He barely whispered. 

Ryan paused before enveloping Gavin in his arms.  “I missed you, too.”

Gavin pulled away and looked into Ryan’s eyes, “Really?”

Ryan nodded and poked at the little doll in Gavin’s hand.  “That little guy helped me through a lot.  Whenever I got lonely, I had little Edgar to talk to.”

Gavin smiled and hugged Edgar close to his chest.  “I’m glad.”

The two spent the rest of the time talking about what Ryan did on his tour.  Where he went, what he saw, what the band got up to on their time off.  Gavin let Ryan just talk, but would interject with questions and exclamations of how he wished he could go on a journey like Ryan’s.

It wasn’t too long before Jon was alerting everyone to the end of the robots’ time.  Gavin shot a sad look to Ryan before going in for another hug.  Ryan held him close and let him know that he would see him again before releasing him to the watchful eye of his mother.  Ryan watched from the edge of the tent as Gavin run up to his mother, excitedly babbling at her as he hugged the cow close.  He didn’t take her hand as they disappeared into the crowd.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments will make me love you. I will think of you when I eat a warm cookie.
> 
> And you can check me out on tumblr at [theloveandthestuff](http://theloveandthestuff.tumblr.com/)


End file.
